Feeling at home in the world with Giuseppe and Matteo from YAPA
Feeling home is a feeling which is something essential. It makes you feel comfortable, it gives the space you need to be solid in what you do in your daily business, it gives positive energy.
Travelling is something our buyers do weekly, always on the hunt for cool and relevant product. We’re always proud to present the latest brands and arrivals on our shelves. A city we visit very often is Milan. As you could experience in our latest ASPESI video on the socials, Milan is a city with a lot of hidden beauty, places tourists don’t see that often.
One of those places is Rolph’s worldwide favourite restaurant: YAPA. They feel ‘at home in the world’ and try to make you comfortable with their favourite flavours, a bold mix of mediterranean passion, Asian precision and South American spirit. Via this way we’d like to introduce you with Matteo and Giuseppe, the people behind YAPA.
Hi Giuseppe and Matteo, it’s a pleasure to meet again, please introduce yourselves!
Matteo: I’m Matteo Pancetti, co-founder & chef of Yapa. I grew up in Tuscany and from there I started working and traveling around the world for over 20 years: experiencing life, traditions and cultures in South America, Europe and Asia.
Giuseppe: I’m Giuseppe Di Maio, co-founder & financial officer of Yapa. I grew up in Sorrento, overlooking the coast. I’ve always been fascinated by gastronomy and I love to travel and explore new places. I’ve been a professional accountant for years, until I decided to merge the passion for numbers and the one for gastronomy into one.
Can you tell me everything about YAPA?
Where did it all start?
Yapa started in Milan from the energy, passions and ideas of the founders: Matteo, Cristina (Matteo’s wife) and Giuseppe.
Matteo was towards the end of a professional experience in Italy and Giuseppe was pretty much in the same situation, having just ended his first work experience in Milan.
Giuseppe met Cristina through a shared passion and involvement in the electronic music industry and then this relationship grew into a friendship and professional collaboration into the project, as they both had the desire to create something of their own.
What’s the idea, what’s your vision?
Something that the three of us share is the profound passion for traveling and for understanding and getting to know different cultures and culinary traditions. Thanks to Matteo, who is the soul of the project, we then managed to create and evolve into what Yapa is today.
The vision that we have is the transportation of guests through our journey, using our characteristics: our cuisine, our cocktails, our music and, more than anything else, the relationship that each of our team members creates with our guests.
The word “Yapa” comes from the Quechua language, and it means “a little something extra”, a special treat gifted from host to guest. This is at the core of everything we do.
The inspiration, mediterranean passion, Asian precision and south American spirit: what’s the idea behind the menu?
The idea behind the menù is to represent Matteo’s background and life experiences, and to create a nomadic cuisine, in which we transport Yapa into the world and the world into Yapa.
The cocktail bar is a much bigger part then we see in other restaurants? Can you describe the impact of Matias Sarli?
The importance given to the bar in our concept is what Matteo sought, kitchen and bar sharing spaces, ideas and ingredients.
Matteo and Matias Sarli met each other over 20 years ago, in Barcelona.
Matias had the creativity and the sense of innovation that Matteo wanted to complete his vision; and he keeps having a massive impact and a fundamental role in Yapa’s world.
What’s your next step?
Our dream is to expand Yapa into the world, bringing it to life in different contexts – metropolitan/urban, seaside, mountains, etc.
Thanks!